'Missoula' New Puma Cub Makes Debut at Berlin Zoo

05/30/2012 02:31 pm ET
|
Updated
Aug 17, 2012

Huffington Post

A baby cub was introduced to the German public yesterday, the first cub in 22 years to be born at Berlin's Tierpark zoo. "Missoula" who was born almost 2 months ago, was the only surviver from the litter of 3 cubs.

Christian Kern the zoo's Mammal Curator, said "We are excited about this puma cub because it's the first one growing up at Berlin's Tierpark in 22 years. The last successful birth and upbringing was in December 1990. Since then, we had births but they were not successful because the cubs had to be born by Caesarian section and they did not survive."

Missoula already has a fan following and the zoo expects a jump in attendance. The cub who weighs 7 pounds, is already starting to eat beef and mice and in the coming months, her spotted fur will slowly turn reddish brown.

Watch the video above, and see more adorable photos of baby animals below!

Baby Animals(CLONED)

Baby Animals(CLONED)

1

of

32

Baby Elephant San Diego Zoo

A newborn Africa elephant lifted his trunk in search of his mother at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The male calf was born at 5:45 a.m. on Monday to Umngani (oom-gah-nee). In this rare moment, the calf stood alone after he had wandered off a few steps, but shortly thereafter his mother, 5-year-old sister Khosi (koh-see), and 2-year-old brother Ingadze (in-Gahd-zee) rushed over to tend to the unnamed calf. Throughout the day the family watched over their newest member, letting him only stray a few feet. The Safari Park is now home to 18 elephants8 adults and 10 youngsters. The adults were rescued in 2003 from the Kingdom of Swaziland, where they faced being culled. The average gestation period for African elephants is 649 days or 22 months. A newborn calf averages 200 to 300 pounds. Calves can be weaned at 2 to 3 years old.